Puppy Love
by Kriaseila
Summary: HIATUS. Cupid is an extremely busy god. Not only does he work overtime, he also follows the strict rules of fate. His many helpers roam the world, assisting with this thing called 'love'. In this case, it is a small creature with a huge heart. OCs.
1. Chapter 1: Teni Meets a Stranger

_Prince of Tennis _© Takeshi Konomi

_Puppy Love _© Kriaseila

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**Puppy Love****  
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Chapter**.**1**.**

_Teni meets a stranger._**  
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He watched the trees shiver as the blast of wind entered. Many vibrantly coloured leaves fell onto the ground after taking a critical blow. It ruffled through his fur. Every time he arrived at the place, the only word that appeared in his mind was 'big'. Yes, the park was pretty big. From the entrance to the different attraction spots, it held different memories of them together as a family.

Eiko, who stood in front of him, always stared, smiling at his simplicity. Like usual she picked a white dandelion beside the bench and blew towards him, however, this time it rushed back into her face. She closed her eyes and spat, avoiding the seeds reach her mouth. When her eyes opened, he was already behind her, jumping as high up into the sky to catch the things in the air. She laughed. "Teni, be free!" Her voice, loud and dramatic, flew with the wind and into his sharp ears.

The puppy that stopped almost immediately tilted his head, not understanding a word she said.

She sat on the wooden bench and waved her arms in the air. "Come on, Teni. Move that a way." Her fingers pointed towards the far field filled with other dogs.

His small body motioned towards her.

A small sigh released from her lips.

_Teni did something wrong?_

He watched her look away and rummage through a white plastic bag that was placed on her lap. As he approached her, the pup watched her hands very closely. He took a few steps closer and also sat in his beg position. _Food?_ It was within that few second, she swung her arm through the air, and an orange object flew across the sky. Though he couldn't recognize it, he chased after it through the bushes and onto the concrete. It was instinct.

Orange and round. His tail waved back and forth in delight. He could recognize it as his ball, his favourite one. He picked up it with his jaw rapped around tightly. But something was different. When he lifted his head, there was a large creature in front of him, followed by many others. An unsettling sensation ran through him once their eyes made contact. It didn't look anything like Eiko.

Eiko had brown hair with gentle brown eyes, while this creature had grey hair and ominous grey eyes (there seemed to be dirt under one of his eye). He could smell it. Humans. Males. The man, who looked down upon him, had a different scent than the people around him though they all wore the same set of clothes along with matching bags hanging on their shoulder.

Teni dropped his ball.

_Teni is going to claim it._ This new item.

He learned from his neighbour, who was large, black, and powerful, "If you want it, get it yourself." So he ran towards the unknown scent, lifted his hind leg, and released his scent. Teni wagged his tail in delight.

_Teni did good._ It was his.

Instantly a roar of laughter sounded, dominating over the puppy. He pounced back to the ball for protection. Did they want his toy? Never. He bared his fangs at humans, the strangers, and then barked as loud as he could. Though his small body seemed harmless, his voice was ear splitting.

The usually tall human stepped closer. "Captain, are you al—"

Eiko appeared. Swiftly out of the bush, she dashed like a cheetah and tackled the odd scented stranger onto the ground with her hands out in front of her. Everything fell silent. Her hands covered the man's face so he couldn't get up. The crowd only stared at the scene, their eyes widened to the point where they couldn't take another blink.

As the girl tried to get up, the man grabbed her arm, glaring. But before he could say anything, she quickly pulled her arm away and freed herself from his grip. "Rapist!" Eiko yelled before picking Teni and running off.

Teni barked back at the strangers who did not move an inch from their spot. _Eiko is the best._ His head spun back around to his life saviour. Eiko's teeth clenched together shown her exact feelings. Anger. When she loosened her grip from his body, he could not be more amazed at rushing scenery than he had been before and let his tongue out to flow with the passing wind.

He saved a lot of energy from the trip to the park. The first thing Teni did, once they arrived home, was run towards the kitchen. Eiko gave a sheepish smile and in slippers, shuffled her way to the young pup. "Teni. You're going to get fat." As she opened the bottom door, the puppy came running, wagging its tail. There stood a large bag of dog food. Teni attacked. "Calm down, I'll give it to you," she said as she grabbed the dog pellets. After tearing it open, she then poured the contents into his bowl. The puppy happily ate its dinner.

Teni stared at his empty bowl, pecking at it with his paw. There was nothing more. He wandered around the house until arriving to the monster's den. It was always like a never-ending adventure in the area of what seemed to be a room. He'd never dare to go in when it was present. After all, the monster would torture him.

As he took a step into the lair, the door creaked open, and he heard Eiko call. "Teni, I suggest you get out of Ai-chan's room." He barked as a reply to her unknown words and moved into the abyss.

Bright colours from the cloth hanging around the room sparked his interest. He moved, jumping onto the bed, desk, and ground to find more and more different types of cloth. He liked to roll on the soft material occasionally. Of course, the monster could spot his hair on them. That's why he was very cautious coming into this room.

His body jumped once his ears heard a sound. He peered at the mountain of clothes. A bright red light shone behind it. Motioning back and forth, Teni analysed the object that revealed itself on the floor. It stopped ringing. He cautiously walked closer to it. As soon as he was close enough, he pounced on the flashing light. It broke apart, leaving a cord dangling across the floor.

"—ed to talk," a voice said. It was deep and unfamiliar. He couldn't recognize it. It didn't sounded like the monster.

Teni lowered his head towards the thing and sniffed.

"And this is?"

He bounced back. It was Eiko. His tail wagged happily.

"Ah, so the mountain gorilla can't remember even ore-sama's (1) name." The unknown voice spoke again.

"Excuse me? So who are you?"

There she was again!

"Keigo Atobe. Be gracious ore-sama is even speaking to _you_."

It wasn't her. Teni barked.

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**To be continued...**

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Happy Valentines day! AND Happy birthday, Choutarou! I haven't written anything in such a long time because I was busy. This inspiration came from "Chii's Sweet Home" and Valentines day. What do you think? Should I keep going or delete it?

(1) ore - I, my, mine etc...


	2. Chapter 2: Their Compromise

_Prince of Tennis _© Takeshi Konomi

_Puppy Love _© Kriaseila

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**Puppy Love****  
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Chapter**.**2**.**

_Their Compromise_**.  
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Surrounded by more than half the female population of the students at Hyotei, the boy's tennis team stood out on the open courts talking amongst themselves. Soon he appeared, the King of Hyotei. Keigo Atobe. It became silent on the courts as their captain approached the courts. The outside was a different story. Admiration. Love. Worship. You could feel them scratching against your ears.

Fan-girls.

"Atobe-sama is so radiant today," one girl said.

Another finished her sentence, "as always."

The female students drowned in his presence (possibly even the sound of his name). Their eyes glued onto him like a child looking at all the shinning candies in the store. He didn't mind it. In fact, this pompous man seemed to be encouraging it.

When he positioned his arm in the air and snapped his fingers, it was as if magic overflowed. The expensive regular's jacket, covering his shoulders, gave a beautiful effect to this idea the students pictured. "Everyone start with 30 laps!" His voice roared throughout the courts, and a stampede of tennis players' footsteps followed.

All other unwanted students left the premises. But one girl, who stood ten feet away, stared at his back still waiting. She had her bangs pushed off to the side revealing her brown eyes and an outfit ready for jogging. As she fixed the orange hair band that tangled the stands of her hair, she glanced around the area to notice she had become the only female there.

This girl was Eiko Murakami.

Her hands, inside her white hoodie pockets, felt the warm cell phone against her sweaty palms. With a quick a step behind the bench, her fingers tightened the grip around her phone.

"Mountain gorilla," said the King, "do you think you have all the free time in the world?" His back still faced her. The girl flinched—even grimaced as she heard him speak. Atobe calmly watched the team sprinting around the courts. "The papers need to be finished by tomorrow."

Eiko's fiery brown eyes shot out in a glaring contest with his back. "Hey, I have a name and…"

Atobe turned around.

Avoiding his eyes, she dipped her head below her shoulders. "It's mountain gorilla, Atobe-sama."

The boy smirked.

The girl peered through a thin field of view, lifting her eyes to see his back once again, and soon, relaxed her tense muscles. A warm sigh escaped her lips. "Why am I playing with kids today? I was supposed to be working after school. I hope Ai-chan will understand," the girl muttered, and then turned back to stare at the King's back once again, annoyed.

It only took a few steps to shock her. And he did. Oshitari walked towards her, ready in his uniform. "It's strange to find you talking to yourself. You look much more conservative during class. I've only seen you talk to your friend, Murakami-san," he said, smiling. As suspected from Hyotei's genius, very observant.

Eiko blinked, surprised at his presence, and then smiled. "You could say I'm kinda shy. Or I'm not a people person," she said.

"But you have good reputation."

Her eyes widened. "I have a reputation? Could you tell me what they say?"

He could hear the girl's voice grow eager. It was hard to get a reputation in Hyotei. After all, the tennis regulars took the placement for anyone to be heard. And there were only a few people who had looks, grades or talent that were famous. Oshitari balanced his glasses. "You're nice," he said simply.

"Oh." Eiko's excitement died down after hearing his two words. It was something she saw coming, so she threw her concern elsewhere. But as an instant blow of wind flew by her black shorts, she realized something. Her eyes glanced around the school ground. Something was missing. Oshitari was still by her side. Mukahi had his laugh at her during class and now was stretching. Shishido, who smirk at her while spotting her in the halls in the morning, was talking to his doubles partner, Ohtori. Kabaji stood there staring blankly into space. And Hiyoshi practiced his swinging. "Why aren't the regulars running?"

"We have a different schedule than the other members today," Oshitari stated, starting to take his racket out of his bag.

The girl placed her fingers on her chin, nodding. "Oh, I see," said Eiko, trying to sound interested in this club's peculiar tennis fetish. But her main question was still unanswered. "So how do you deal with him?"

"Atobe?" asked Oshitari. She nodded and the genius merely shrugged. "We've been on the same level so far. People like him grow onto you."

"Same level, huh?" she said as she kicked the ground. Eiko ignored the last part.

Atobe heard their short conversation, which seemed to be interesting in his ears. "Arn~? Something is making a noise," he said, walking towards them. He had his arms crossed, his head fixed at a position where you couldn't overlook him.

Eiko's hand touched her left shoulder. "It's the sound of tears dripping out of my heart, Atobe-sama," she answered.

"Is that so?" He frowned. "Someone who gave ore-sama a back injury with a simple push shouldn't have a heart."

Eiko stopped and clenched her teeth together.

The images were unforgettable. The regulars had a triumphing victory, and they were walking out of the park when a puppy appeared before them out of the bushes.

"I've already told you."

After it started barking, some monstrous girl jumped onto the King of Hyotei. Then she, still being a citizen in his land, ran off like a fugitive.

"I'm sorry."

Finding out that it was a girl in his grade, he immediately made an appointment with the fugitive and got something out of it. The King's method was different. Anyone could see it.

"Ore-sama cannot play tennis for a month because of you," said Atobe.

"Atobe-sama is nothing without tennis?" Eiko asked, her voice still mocking their tennis fetish.

"Ore-sama is and has everything even without tennis."

Eiko eyes stared at the passing bird (a crow?). "Well that's true. Tennis isn't important," she said, confirming to herself once more by a simple nod.

Atobe ignored her insignificant comment and moved onto the business part of his game. "Have you finished sorting the names?"

Oshitari chuckled on the sidelines. As Mukahi walked up to him, the man silenced him, putting his index finger onto his own lips. The red haired male saw the smirk on Oshitari's face and traced his eyes back to the captain and the girl from yesterday. He grinned.

Eiko shifted her eyes back to him, crossed. "Didn't I tell you that I did? It's the reason I asked to go home. I did everything that needed to be done here."

"Everything?" he asked. His eyebrow rose.

"Everything during lunch," she stated. "I have a knack for things like this."

"Ore-sama is impressed with your swift and diligent work."

Her lips curved into a small smile. She had pride in all her work. "I'm trilled to be praised by someone as great as you." Of course, she exaggerated just a bit in her sentence.

The rest of the regulars soon approached the captain, confused about their conversation. The man rarely compliment others, usually it was only himself.

Atobe nodded after, accepting the fact.

There was their captain.

"Go wake up Jirou, Kabaji," he said. But right as Kabaji was going to answer with a simple 'Usu', Atobe stopped him. "Never mind. Murakami," he said, "wake up Jirou." Her eyes perked up. The small spark in her eye that meant she knew there was a chance for her to home now disappeared completely.

She quietly complied with his order and walked towards the boy nicknamed the sleeping beauty of Hyotei. When she arrived, she stood there in front of him stunned. This girl only watched her classmates stick boxes pocky in his bag secretly everyday while he was asleep but never this close. Today, she had to go physically wake him up.

"Akutagawa-san," she said, poking him with a stick she found on the ground. "Sleeping beauty. Jirou. Volley man." The blond haired male did not move at all.

In a crouched position, she opened her phone and started to browse through her contacts until she hit the name, Mitsuyo Tayama. While waiting for the other line to pick up, the ringing sounds kept going.

"_Hello?_"

Eiko flipped her white hood over her head and chatted with the other girl. A few seconds later after saying the boy's name, a high-pitched scream sounded. She barely heard the next part of Mitsuyo's line after that blow to her ear. "I can't wake him up," she said louder, trying to listen to own voice. Within a moment, her facial expression changed. "Why does everyone have something against me?" said Eiko angrily to Mitsuyo before abruptly ending the call.

She moved into a better position towards the bench so the camera got the perfect angle of his face, and then clicked. There was always that second of waiting before the phone camera actually took the photo. When she took a glimpse of it, she immediately deleted the picture. It blurred. She got into place again. Three. Two. One. She clicked. Staring at her phone, she smiled. Perfect.

"What are you doing?" a rough voice yelled. A quick hand snatched her phone.

She turned around to see Ryou Shishido, handling her phone.

"That's mine," she stated.

He stared at the picture. "I come to check on you to find out you're a pervert?" he said as he shifted the cap on his head.

"No. At least I don't think so?" She stared at him puzzled, still in her crouched position.

"Then why are you taking a picture of someone sleeping?" His voice started to rise, irritated. "Hey, you know this is illegal, right?"

His racket moved uncontrollably around the air. It scared her. "Um, is it?" Her eyes wandered elsewhere.

"Yes!" he yelled.

Jirou woke up, stretching his arms towards the sky. "What's happening?" asked the sleeping beauty.

When all Shishido's attention was towards the woken male, she snatched her phone back. "Thank you for assisting me, Shishido-san," she said in an annoyed tone. Eiko then turned to Jirou. "Akutagawa-san, Ato—"

"Ah!" He pointed his finger at her. "You're that girl from yesterday!" He eyed her more intently. "Um, Mariko?"

"Eiko Murakami," she stated.

"You can call me by my first name."

She looked surprised. "Oh. Sure, Jirou-san."

"Without the 'san'," he corrected.

"Jirou," she tried to say, but it only came out awkwardly.

He grinned. "You were so cool and really fast! I'm so happy I was awake for it. Your dog was so funny too. Atobe shocked and then fell with such a loud noise." He jumped from the bench and onto the ground, generating similar sounds.

She scratched the back of her head, uncomfortable from the compliments given. "I'm trying to forget," she said.

"Don't worry. You looked cool," he reassured her.

The heat from Shishido's eyes was going to penetrate her skin, which was why she acted fast. "Um, thanks. But it's time for practice. Can you go to the courts?"

Jirou nodded and walked towards the group, talking about tennis and some genius from another school. The nap he took was to store energy and it burst at once. Eiko tried to keep up with his happy-go-lucky self, but it was difficult.

Shishido, who could not hid his anger, followed the two back to the courts, eyeing the so-called Atobe's slave to check if she made any irregular movement. "Che, what was Atobe thinking?" he grumbled.

"Mission complete," said Eiko once she reached the group of regulars.

Atobe looked at her, acknowledging her presence. Then he ordered the regulars to do a complex set of workouts.

"So Atobe-sama, may I go home?" asked Eiko who thought that it was the last thing the King wanted her to do.

As soon as the regulars sprinted off, he smirked. "Ah, but you have your responsibilities here to take care of."

She looked at him curious. "What else should I do?"

"Get ore-sama's water bottle."

Hate.

"Okay, Atobe-sama," she said, obeying.

It was growing inside her.

"Be in awe, you are standing in front of ore-sama. Not everyone has a chance like this in their everyday life."

Hate was building.

She smiled and nodded. Her foot stepped onto the ground and started to motion in the opposite direction of the King, who watched her walk off. No one could see it, but the mischievous glint in her eye shone the brightest this instant. And the Cheshire's grin widened.

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**To be continued...**

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What do you guys think so far? Her personality is not developed. You will definitely seem more of her personality next chapter. Does she seem like a Mary-Sue?

**Princess Alice Rose **: As you can see, this chapter it wasn't. So I'm not going to use Teni's POV throughout the story. It'd be kinda hard to do (though I can try it out).

**thesadisttensaifuji **: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it.


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